Month: February 2022

Piramal Enterprises to raise up to Rs 500 cr via NCDs

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Piramal Enterprises Ltd on Monday said the administrative committee of its board of directors has approved raising up to Rs 500 crore through issue of non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis.

The committee at its meeting held on Monday approved issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of up to Rs 100 crore along with an option to retain over subscription of up to Rs 400 crore, aggregating up to Rs 500 crore, Piramal Enterprises said in a regulatory filing.

Also Read | Mahindra Finance raises Rs 300 cr by issuing bonds

The debentures are proposed to be listed on debt segment and capital market segment of National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE Ltd, it added.

The NCDs will have a tenure of 30 months with a coupon rate of 8 percent per annum, the company said, adding the redemption date is September 2, 2024.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startups to lease 30% more office space in in 2022-24 in 6 cities: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The leasing of office space by startups is expected to rise 30 percent during 2022-24 across six major cities compared to the previous three years, according to a report. In its joint report, real estate consultant Colliers India and data analytic firm CRE Matrix said that startups are expected to lease about 29 million square feet during 2022-24 against 22.4 million square feet in 2019-2021.

The six cities tracked in the report are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. The demand will be led by fintech and logistics startups as they have gained momentum post-pandemic due to increased digital adoption and e-commerce boom, Colliers India said in a statement.

Also Read | Max Estates leases 1.05 lakh square feet office space in Delhi’s Okhla at around Rs 16 crore annual rent

Increased digital adoption, availability of a deep talent pool, favourable government policies and funding options from venture capitalists are steering the growth of startups, it added.

“Increased entrepreneurship and rapid growth of startups have been one of the most remarkable trends in Indian office space,” Colliers India CEO Ramesh Nair said. Startups currently occupy 10 percent of the office space, he added. “As startups pick up the pace, landlords need to consider the business life cycle and work preferences of the startups to capture the real estate demand from startups to drive more value,” Nair said.

Abhishek Kiran Gupta, CEO & Co-founder, CRE Matrix, said that startups occupied 49.7 million square feet of office space at the end of the last year. About 30 million square feet of office space in India is occupied by co-working or flex players and a large share of this is occupied by startups, he added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Storyboard18 | Is Tejasswi Prakash the new addition to celebrity brands created by Bigg Boss?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Remember how Shilpa Shetty’s win at Celebrity Bigg Brother’s fifth edition changed her life? From a dwindling box office record to overnight global fame, multiple endorsement offers and book deals – Shetty’s career graph saw a sharp peak after she won the fifth season of the British reality television show in 2007. Closer home in India, Bigg Boss is doing the same for its winners and other prominent contestants.

Bigg Boss season 15 winner Tejasswi Prakash, for instance, now has a whopping 5.1 million followers on Instagram. The number experts suggest has seen at least a one million spike since she entered the Bigg Boss house. The 28-year-old television actor is being flooded with offers from multiple brands.

Immediately after her win, Prakash was signed on by a beauty brand, an OTT brand and a tech brand for collaborations. In fact, one of her promotional videos for beauty and personal care brand Aegte is already doing the rounds on Instagram.

Also Read | Storyboard18: Shah Rukh Khan’s Toofani partnership with Thums Up

Television bahus, Bollywood B-listers, winners from other reality shows, ex-sports stars and all the others who have tried their luck at the Bigg Boss house have come out of the show noticeably more popular. Everything from their remuneration demands to social media following have more often than not skyrocketed with Bigg Boss’ midas touch.

Instant fame mix, 2-3x rise in searches and followers

“After becoming a part of Bigg Boss, the graph of individual contestants and of course the winner’s popularity sees a rapid increase. Their social buzz, followers and name searches go up by at least 2x-3x, if not more,” says Rashmi Sehgal, senior vice president at Zenith.

Ankur Pujari, co-founder and business lead at digital marketing agency Hyper Connect Asia says the competitive edge and the engrossment rate of these shows have evolved in such a way that is driving the influencer market to an extensive level creating mass brand endorsements for these reality TV stars.

Pujari mentions Tejaswi Prakash and her partner Karan Kundrra and explains how the duo has emerged as a power couple on multiple social media platforms. “The duo has gotten themselves great traction in terms of followers and engagement rate on their social media handles, both being the principal requirements for a brand ambassador’s approach,” he said.

Also Read | Storyboard18 | Too Koo-l for brands?: Koo benefits from brands diversifying their platform strategies

Talking of Karan Kundrra. The 37-year-old popular television actor has cashed in on his Bigg Boss fame like no other. Kundrra has gained 1.8 million new followers during his time at the house. His team has drawn up an elaborate plan for him to further boost his visibility and engagement.

Reeling in bigg brands

To start with, Kundra who was seen saying ‘butter chicken do’ during his time at the Bigg Boss House was approached by Licious Foods to create content around it. His paid partnership video for the brand has garnered more than 2.5 million views and has also started a trend called #ButterChickenDo on Instagram Reels.

“With all the new content we are creating with him we want him to be the Punjab Ka Gabru that he is and work with brands that align with his personality,” says Shubham Singhal, Co-Founder, at digital marketing and influencer marketing agency The Girlfriend Box.

The Girlfriend Box that manages Kundrra’s account was approached by 20 odd brands after Bigg Boss. The actor’s Instagram recently posted another paid partnership with deodorant brand Wild Stone.

Transcending the metro and non-metro divide

The fact that Bigg Boss stars have immense sway today with urban and non-metro markets helps them in bagging not just endorsement deals but also deals with music video companies, OTT platforms and production houses.

Also Read | Storyboard18 | Mercedes-Benz India targets young performance car lovers in first Instagram campaign

Shehnaz Gill, for instance, who was the third runner up in Bigg Boss 13 was signed up for a host of music videos and commercials. Similarly, season 14 winner, Rubina Dilaik, was also featured in a string of music videos both for the Hindi and Punjabi market and also returned to TV with her show Shakti.

“These contestants have been approached by sponsors as well, which adds on to their popularity when it comes to endorsing brands. The love they gather when they are a part of the reality show certainly follows them post the show, too,” says Sehgal.

Is it 15 minutes of fame?

However, for how long do these celebrities enjoy the attention after the show is over is a big question.

The platform is a good springboard, says Sandeep Goyal, managing director of Rediffusion but doesn’t guarantee anything. “The new winner could be a ‘moment’ hero. Longevity in the limelight will depend on many more factors,” said Goyal.

Keeping up with trends, regular uploads, relevant content creation, participating in Bigg Boss related debates and discussions and being seen at the right place at the right time are some of the ways in which the participants can stay relevant long after their season, experts suggest.

Gauhar Khan, Rahul Vaidya, Shamita Shetty, Urvashi Dholakia, Shweta Tiwari are examples of some Bigg Boss contestants and winners who manage to stay relevant on social media. Though the degree of their fame varies and some may not be as big as they were after their return from Bigg Boss’ house.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Funding rundown: DaMENSCH bags $16.4 million, Decentralized exchange Dexalot secures $7 million, Upswing gets $4 million from QED Investors & Hopscotch to raise $30 million

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Menswear brand DaMENSCH bags $16.4M in Series B round, aims to hit 3x growth by FY23

Men’s clothing D2C brand DaMENSCH has bagged $16.4 million in its series B funding round led by A91 Partners. Existing investors Saama Capital, Matrix Partners and Whiteboard Capital also participated in the round.

As per the startup, the fresh funds will be used to make investments in technology and to strengthen and diversify the product portfolio.

“Our products are addressing a big white space in the wardrobe of the modern man. We have clocked 100Cr ARR in 2021 making us the fastest D2C apparel brand to reach this milestone, on the back of our strong consumer proposition”, said Anurag Saboo, Co- founder DaMENSCH.

Currently the company has over 200 SKUs listed across 15+ categories and claims to have made more than 10 million shipments across the country.

The firm is now targeting an aggressive growth in FY23. “We are targeting 3x growth in the coming financial year through meaningful product-market and channel expansion,” Saboo added.

Decentralized exchange Dexalot secures $7M from Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund

Decentralized exchange Dexalot has raised $7 million in a funding round led by Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund.

Other investors including Avalaunch, GSR, Muhabbit Capital, Republic Capital, Woodstock Capital, Maven Capital, Colony, IPC, Avascan, Benqi, and AVentures, also participated in the round.

The funds will help Dexalot increase its footprint in the Avalanche ecosystem and help solve some of the current inefficiencies, the firm said in a statement.

US-based Dexalot is a community-centric DEX, that operates on Avalanche and bridges the gap between DEXs and centralized exchanges. It currently operates on Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) on the C-Chain.

Open finance startup Upswing gets $4M from QED Investors & angels

Upswing Financial Technologies, an open finance B2B ecosystem enabler, has raised $4 million from marquee global fund QED Investors.

The round also saw participation from a clutch of fintech founders like Kunal Shah of Cred; Jiten Gupta of Jupiter; Rajan Bajaj of Slice; Lalit Keshre of Groww; Anurag Sinha of One Card; Shivashish Chatterjee of DMI Finance, Kunal Bahl of Snapdeal, Sumit Gwalani and Sujith Narayanan of Epifi. Better Capital, Amara VC, Multiply Ventures, Capier Investments, Utsav Somani from AngelList, also pitched in.

According to the startup, the fresh capital will be used for building plug-and-play platforms for open finance and help fintechs and consumer tech players offer financial services seamlessly. The company also said it is working with a few leading banks on the stack which will go live in a phased manner in 2022.

Healthtech startup ClaimBuddy raises $3M from Chiratae Ventures & Rebright Partners

Healthtech startup ClaimBuddy has secured $3 million in a pre-series A round of investment co-led by Chiratae Ventures and Rebright Partners.

Existing investors like Titan Capital and Relentless Ventures, including other private investors, also participated in the round.

The funds will be utilised to strengthen technology framework and increase sales and marketing efforts, the startup said in a statement.

“ClaimBuddy has witnessed 10x growth over the past year and with the help of the funding amount we look forward to accelerating the company’s effort for smoother claim assistance,” Ajit Patel, Co-founder, ClaimBuddy said

The firm provides tech and financing solutions to the hospitals and doctors to improve operational and financial efficiency by at least 30%. The company claims to have processed claims of more than 100 crores and is working with 120+ hospitals.

Edtech startup OMOTEC raises $130K in Pre-Series A round from ah! Ventures

STEM education-based, Research & Innovation School of India OMOTEC has raised $130,000 in a Pre-Series A funding round led by ah! Ventures.

With subjects focussed on technical design, mechanical construction, electronics, coding, and analytics, OMOTECH provides a has 1200+ hours long tech content.

The company claims to have already achieved a total turnover of more than $1.10 million since its inception 5-years ago. It is now aiming a turnover of $0.5 million in the coming fiscal year.

D2C kids’ fashion brand Hopscotch to raise $30M, aims to hit Rs 1,100 Cr in CY22

D2C kids’ fashion brand, Hopscotch, has announced its plans to raise $30 million to scale up business.

With unit economics proven, the company said it is looking to invest in amplifying brand awareness, building category extensions to serve more occasions in a child’s life, and further strengthening its technology platform.

The firm has clocked 5X in the last 5 years and is now aiming to reach 10x growth in the next 5 years. Hopscotch’s current annual GMV stands at Rs 650 crores and it is expecting to hit Rs 1,100 Cr in CY22.

As per the startup, 75% of its revenues is coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns.

“We drive 80% of revenue from our owned DTC digital storefronts, and have operated at near EBITDA breakeven for 2 consecutive years,” said Rahul Anand, Founder & CEO, Hopscotch.

The firm backed by investors like RPG Ventures and India Infoline, added that the kid’s fashion market expected to grow into a $22 billion TAM by FY26.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IIT Kanpur incubates startup to develop AI-based search engine for predictive policing, crime mapping

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) is using AI to beef up policing. The premier technology institution is incubating a think tank, which is developing an artificial intelligence-driven data search engine to aid in policing.

Lucknow-based Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF) is being incubated under IIT-K’s Artificial Intelligence and Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship (AIIDE), Center of Excellence, Noida.

The search engine hopes to improve the investigation and policing process by using data from all relevant stakeholders to establish a data search engine. The search engine will help with predictive policing, crime mapping and analysis, FCRF hopes.

Also read: Demand for digital skills in AI, automation, machine learning to grow significantly: IDC India

Frauds and crime are one of the main social issues, said Shashank Shekhar, CEO of FCRF, which is developing methods of predictive policing using AI.

“Now we can understand crime better and solve them faster. We are committed to promoting AI startups in UP, I am thankful to GoUP for their support for the Centre of AI at Noida,” said Dr Nikhil Agarwal, CEO, IIT Kanpur (FIRST, AIIDE and C3i Hub).

FCRF’s search engine will be able to leverage data analysis and predictive analysis AI by building data banks. The government has a trove of data from case files, FIR, charge sheets, seizure memos, conviction memos, arrest memos, crime (case/incident) data, criminals’ data, and data from the police stations records rooms and citizen complaint information. The data from the sectors like BFSI, transportation and others is often not used.

Also read: AI is the newest guardian of wildlife; here’s how it’s saving koalas and…

FCRF hopes to build a platform where all the available data — one set which the government already uses as well as the banking, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), ISP, telecom, transport data — will be a click away from investigation agencies.

“We will collect all necessary data from many sources and create a single platform that can execute data analysis utilising regression models, data mining, and artificial intelligence, as well as providing insights into the crime pattern that is unique to a given region,” said Shashank Shekhar, Co-Founder, FCRF.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Delhi excise dept orders liquor shops to stop offering discounts

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The excise commissioner of Delhi on Monday directed liquor shops in the city to stop offering discounts and rebates on alcohol brands in view of reports of overcrowding outside vends and the existing threat of COVID-19. The department issued an order, directing licensees to stop giving concessions, rebates, or discounts, and warned of action against shops offering them.

It has been brought to the notice of the excise department that as a result of discounts being offered by the licensees through their retail vends, instances were reported of large crowds gathering outside the liquor stores leading to law and order problems and causing inconvenience to the local population, the order issued by the excise commissioner said. The department has also learned that the schemes and discounts offered at the liquor shops were leading to ”unhealthy” market practices, it added.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, and the danger of infection still persists, the order said, adding that the huge crowds are likely to aggravate the situation in Delhi.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Burman family makes open offer to buy 26% additional stake in Eveready Industries

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Burman family, promoters of Dabur India Ltd, on February 28 informed stock exchanges that it made an open offer for an additional 26 percent stake in Eveready Industries Ltd, which is now controlled by Khaitan Group.

The mandatory open offer under the takeover regulations was made as the Burmans acquired an additional 5.26 percent share of Eveready for Rs 122.30 crore, taking their total shareholding to 25.11 percent. The Burman family is the single-largest investor in Eveready.

According to Sebi regulations, the acquiring company has to make an open offer if its stake crosses 25 percent. If such an open offer is triggered, then the acquiring firm will need to offer to buy at least 26 percent additional stake from public shareholders, almost at the prevailing market price.

Also Read: Crompton Greaves Consumer to acquire controlling stake in Butterfly Gandhimathi

Post this 5.26 percent stake acquisition, the Burmans will make an open offer to buy additional 18.90 million shares or a 26 percent stake in Eveready for Rs 604.76 crore. The group will buy the stake at a price of Rs 320 a share.

The companies on behalf of which Eveready acquisitions will be made are Puran Associates Pvt Ltd, VIC Enterprises Pvt Ltd, MB Finmart Pvt Ltd, Gyan Enterprises Pvt Ltd and Chowdry Associates, all owned by various members of the Burman Family. JM Financial Ltd has been appointed as lead manager to the offer.

As of the December quarter, Puran Associates Pvt Ltd holds a 5.24 percent stake, VIC Enterprises Pvt Ltd has 4.95 percent, MB Finmart Pvt Ltd holds 6.2 percent, Gyan Enterprises Pvt Ltd 1.95 percent, Gladiator Vyapaar Pvt Ltd 3.11 percent and Chowdry Associates owns 1.51 percent in Eveready Industries.

Also Read: Ratan Tata-backed BlueStone Jewellery to raise over Rs 1500 crore via IPO

The shareholding of the Khaitan family in Eveready plunged to 4.84 percent from 44.1 percent over the past two years as lenders sold shares pledged with them after the promoter group defaulted on payments.

The promoters pledged their holdings in Eveready and its unit company McLeod Russel India to obtain loans and repay the debt of another unit, McNally Bharat Engineering.

Eveready was struggling with high debt for the last few years and has been trying to monetise some of its assets. Recently, the battery maker has also hived off its loss-making tea operations and sold its surplus land in Chennai and Hyderabad to reduce debt.

Also Read: Bharti Airtel acquires strategic stake in blockchain technology startup Aqilliz

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Amul hikes milk prices by Rs 2 per litre from March 1

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets milk and milk products under the Amul brand, on Monday announced a hike in milk prices by Rs 2 per litre on the back of rising input costs. The price hike will be effective from March 1.

“The increase of Rs 2 per litre translates into 4 percent increase in MRP which is much lower than average food inflation,” the statement said.

Citing a rise in input cost, GCMMF said cattle feed cost is up by 15 percent while energy, packaging and logistic costs are up 35 percent. This has led to an increase in the overall cost of operation and milk production, Amul said.

Also Read | Startup Street: Hasura raises $100 million in Series C funding, enters unicorn club

In Ahmedabad and Saurashtra markets of Gujarat, the price of Amul Gold will be Rs 30 per 500 ml, Amul Taaza will be Rs 24 per 500 ml, and Amul Shakti will be at Rs 27 per 500ml.

“It is worthwhile to note that in the last 2 years Amul has made only 4 percent increase per annum in prices of its fresh milk category,” GCMMF said.

“Considering the rise in input costs, our member unions have also increased farmers’ price in the range of Rs 35 to Rs 40 per Kg fat which is more than 5 percent over the previous year,” the statement said. Amul as a policy passes on almost 80 paise of every rupee paid by consumers for milk and milk products to the milk producers.

“The price revision shall help in sustaining remunerative milk prices to our milk producers and to encourage them for higher milk production,” GCMMF said. GCMMF had last hiked milk prices in July 2021 by Rs 2 per litre.

(With inputs from PTI)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow